Electronic components may be located in housings in many applications. For example, electronic components may be housed in housings to protect them against harsh environments, vandalism, or the like. A particular example involves using housings to protect electronic components from the weather and electromagnetic interference, such as locating various electronic components used for cable television within housings suspended from cables strung between utility poles. Other examples involve using housings to protect electronic components from harmful phenomena associated with locating electronic components underground. It is often desirable that these housings facilitate periodic servicing and/or troubleshooting. Butting two partial-shells together to form a closed shell-like housing is one method that is often used to form housings that facilitate periodic servicing and/or troubleshooting.
If electronic components generate an appreciable amount of heat, their temperatures may exceed thermal-failure limits and subsequently fail. The problem of thermal failure may be aggravated when electronic components are contained within a housing. Properly configuring the housing so that electronic-component temperatures are maintained below thermal-failure limits is one way to guard against the thermal failure of housed electronic components. Some configurations may involve constructing housings from heat conducting materials and thermally coupling the electronic components to the interior surfaces of the housing so that the heat is conducted into the housing and subsequently transferred to external environments, such as outside air. In these configurations, the heat transfer rate (cooling-rate), for a given housing material, is proportional to the amount of exterior surface area that is available for heat transfer.
In applications where it is desirable to house electronic components in housings formed by butting two partial-shells together, it may be desirable to attach electronic components to the interior of one of the partial-shells only. Unfortunately, the available heat transfer surface area is greatly reduced in these configurations. Moreover, the junction between the two-partial shells raises electromagnetic-interference and weather issues.
For the reasons stated above, and for other reasons stated below which will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the present specification, there is a need in the art for housings formed by butting two partial-shells together that maintain the temperatures of heat generating electronic components contained therein below thermal failure limits and that provide adequate protection against other harmful influences.